Seeing Red
by FufuuDesu
Summary: It all started with that red bikini. *Updated Ch.3*
1. Summers

A one-shot!

I might develop this story into a multichapter.

Don't you think KNS is missing some shameless smut too?

Tell me what you think in a review!

This style of writing is a bit out of my league but I think I managed okay here.

**This story is DISCLAIMED! I'm not getting money for this, and I don't own Kaze No Stigma.**

* * *

It is summer again, my favorite season!

I'm not usually a happy-go-lucky girl, but there's just something about that sweetness in the air, that warm breeze of summer that makes me happy no matter what.

I skip down the road happily, arms outstretched. "I love summer!"

Nanase and Yukari hurry after me, and I can hear their sandals slapping against the pavement.

"Wait up! Ayano~!" Yukari calls after me. I slow down, and they catch up with me.

"What's up Yuks?" I ask. She had that look on her face that I knew meant she had a burning question.

"Wanna go to beach with me and some other people tomorrow? It'll be fun~!"

Turning to Nanase, she adds, "You should come too Nanase!"

I narrow my eyes slightly. "Who's _other people_?"

"Oh you know. Our usual friends. Mina, Sakura, Tomoyo, and whoever they decide to bring along."

Hmm. That didn't sound too bad.

"Of course I'm bringing my Len-kun too~!"

"Wait so I can bring Ryuu-kun too?" Nanase asks.

Oh great. I was going to go to the whole summer meet up thing too. If both of their boyfriends go with them, I'll be alone again! Len and Ryuu aren't bad people, but I hate to be the third wheel, or rather the eleventh wheel. If Nanase and Yukari bring their boyfriends, Mina, Sakura, and Tomoyo will probably bring theirs as well.

"Ayano-chi~ Bring Kazuma~!" Yukari suddenly says, eyes sparkling with a new plot. I swear that girl has too many ideas. Especially ones involving me and Kazuma.

"What do you mean, bring him? I can't just _drag_ him along... He's an _adult_ you know." I reply, rolling my eyes.

To be honest, I have no idea where my relationship with Kazuma stands after the whole thing with Tsui-Ling. I know I love him, and he's my friend, at least, but I don't want to push him into something more.

Wait.

Who am I kidding. I so _do_ want to push him into something more. But I know he is devastated by his loss of Tsui-Ling, and I don't feel like risking our friendship for something more. He asked me to wait for him, and I will. I can wait for him to be ready.

"It actually isn't a bad idea," Nanase remarks suddenly, "It's a casual outing, so you can ask him to go as a friend. No biggie."

What the actual hell. Casual my ass.

"How is it a casual outing if everyone's coupled up?" I retort.

"He doesn't need to know that~!" Yukari points out, winking at me and putting a finger to her lips as if telling me to be quiet.

"Ughhhhhhhh. I don't wan to ask him!" I groan.

It's always me making the first move. Can't they see that he's not interested? I know I should get his attention sometimes, but haven't I done that enough? Do I really need to put my heart at risk again?

"We'll ask him for you then!" Nanase said, whipping out her rhinestone encrusted phone.

"Yeah!" Yukari chimes in, pushing her head close to Nanase's so that she could read what Nanase was typing.

Oh no. This was not going to end well. If they invited Kazuma, they would probably mention that I don't want him to go. Kazuma would probably go then, just to piss me off. Ugh, why do I have to have such nosy friends who know too much about me?!

Yukari's cell phone beeped, and they scanned over the new message quickly. Immediately after that, they exchanged glances and mischievous smiles. Then they looked at me.

Oh no...

"He's going!" They announced in unison.

_Great._

"Wait. Uh, guys? I don't even have a bathing suit. How do you expect me to go to the beach?" I ask, suddenly remembering my water-phobia.

Yeah, I'm scared of water. It's a side effect of being a fire user. I can drink it and touch it, but the thought of swimming makes me break out into cold sweats. That's why I never bothered to buy a bathing suit; I just assumed I would never go anywhere near a pool or a beach. It is perfectly logical, and saves money.

Well... Yukari and Nanase don't think so. They stop in their tracks and look at me with wide eyes like I'm a maniac.

I swear I hear crickets.

"What?! You've never been to the beach? or bought a bathing suit?" Nanase exclaims at last. I nod.

"Aya-chan. You're totally missing out on like a significant part of being a girl!" Yukari yells at me, shaking her head.

"C'mon. It isn't_ that_ important. Who needs a bathing suit anyways?"

"Uhm. You do?" Nanase deadpanns me. "You kinda can't wear clothes in the water. Ana being naked isn't an option either is it."

"That's it. E-MHER-GAN-CY! We need to go bikini shopping~" Yukari announces, as if the decision is final.

Ugh, just hearing the b-word makes me cringe. I've seen wayyyy too many girls in magazines and on TV wearing those pathetic excuses of clothes. No way am I wearing one of those. If I am going to get a bathing suit, I am going with a one-piece. Or a wetsuit. I am not putting myself out there in skimpy triangles.

"We are _not_ going."

My friends spin to face me again, and this time they have a smug look on their faces.

"Well I suppose you can just go naked and let Kazuma have the time of his life looking tomorrow then!" Nanase says sadistically.

"Why can't I wear a one-suit?" I ask innocently. There is no reason why I have to conform to society's standards!

"Because Kazuma's going to be staring at everyone else then, no duhhh~ He kinda is a guy!" Yukari juts in.

"I've noticed" I say dryly.

"Let's just go!" Nanase declared, pushing me along. As she pushed, Yukari pulled. Soon, they were dragging me into a shop called "Sweet Treats."

The decor was sickly sweet, and the air smelled like the sweet, sappy perfume that the girl next to me in English class always wore. The worst part of it all was the amount of barely-there bikinis displayed in every square inch of the place. Big posters of cute models with perfect hair and barbie-doll bodies were hung onto the baby pink wall, showcasing the "hot" new designs.

"Yayyy~! There's a sale today! Ooohhh~ There's also a game where you can scratch off to win prizes here!"

Yukari oohs and ahhs over every single little thing, so I didn't pay much attention.

"Ayano!" Yukari shoved a pink slip into my hand. "It's the scratch off! You might even win a free bikini! Wouldn't that be great?"

Yukari can be so naive sometimes. What is the chance of winning the grand prize to something like this the first time I go to one store of a chain of stores? It has to be like on in a million or something. Whatever.

I carelessly scratched off the silver parts, and suddenly, I see a star. A star means prizes. I looked closer.

"OMG! You WON!" Yukari screams _into my ear_.

"OKAY!" I scream into hers. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO MAKE ME DEAF!"

A blonde saleslady with really bad root growths floated over to where we stood.

She takes a look at my ticket, the winning one, and plasters a fake smile onto her face. "Congrats! You won! You can use your ticket as a coupon for one free bikini, as advertised! Have a nice day miss!" With that, she strolls away.

"This is great!" Nanase says, smiling at me, "Now you won't even have to pay!"

"This is not great! Is says here that it's eligible for one free bikini. I don't want a bikini! I want a one-piece!" I complain, pointing to the pink slip.

"Oh well, would you rather pay 5,000 yen for a one piece then?" Yukari beams. "I'd be happy to use that coupon for you~!"

I sigh. It's not like I have any money with me anyways. I guess I'll have to buy a bikini then. Curse father for giving me allowance on Fridays instead of Thursdays!

"Nah, I'll use it." I give in. Nanase and Yukari exchanged gleeful smiles, as if they had just accomplished a great feat.

Yukari takes a ruffled baby pink bikini off of the rack next to her, and bring it up for me to look at. "Isn't this is like perfection~? You should get it!"

I frown. "No Yuks. I am not wearing anything pastel, or any shade of pink."

"Oh right. I forgot. Red is so your color." Nanase suddenly murmurs, heading to the red section of the store.

Well I _am_ a fire user. Me and Yukari follow Nanase to the back of the store. I take a look at the racks, and I am relieved. They seem less girly than the pink section.

Nanase and Yukari literally takes half of the freaking section and dumps it into a pink shopping cart. Then they push me into a changing room with one of the red bikinis and I am left inside the pink stall alone, staring at that little piece of red fabric.

I take a deep breath and steel myself to put on the thing. When I am done, it actually doesn't look so bad on. Wait. Actually, it pushes me up a bit too much.

Whatever. I step outside, and my friends' eyes light up.

"Woah! You have a hot body~!" Yukari exclaims, clapping her hands together.

I blushed and crossed my arms over my chest. I don't like so much attention on the way I look.

"What are you doing? Go try on some more!" Nanase urges me, handing me another red bikini. I shoot daggers at the two of them and go back into the pink changing room. I swear. They are going to be the end of me.

For the next two hours, all I did was try on bikinis, one after the other. Finally, we were left with two options. I really like one of them, since it was more of a tankini, and didn't show too much. It was more my style.

But Nanase and Yukari were adamant about me buying the other one, which they said made me look "smokin'."

I never wanted to be burned Yakisoba anyways.

"Oh c'mon! Don't you want Kazuma to drool over you?" Nanase asks, still trying to persuade me.

"Har de har har. What makes you think he hasn't seen stuff like this before? He's probably conditioned to it already. why can't I try the being unique approach?" I suggest, smiling hopefully.

Nanase narrowed her eyes.

"Wait, can I see your ticket for a sec? I just want to read the stuff on the back." Yukari suddenly says.

I hand it over to her; I know she is always one to read everything on a coupon, even the random tiny numbers. What I didn't expect was for her to run away, towards the cash register with my coupon!

I sprint after her.

"Oh no you don't!"

But it was too late. By the time I reach the cash registers, she had a pastel pink bag with polka dots in one hand, and in the other she had a receipt. She stuck her tongue out and tore up the receipt, sticking the fragments into her bag. She then gave the pink bag to me, with a gleeful smile across her face.

"YUKARI!" I yell. But it was no use. After all, she had torn up the receipt anyways.

I would have to wear the skimpy bikini tomorrow. I am mortified just thinking about Kazuma seeing me in that... _thing!_

* * *

I just have the_ best life ever. _

As soon as I get home, I make a beeline for my room, I just have to hide that pink bag somewhere! If father or Ren sees what's inside, it could get awkward.

However, Kazuma, who always has the best timing, was somehow watching TV in the living room. He _never_ watches TV! What the hell is he doing in my house when he had a perfectly good apartment to watch TV in anyways?!

He walks up to me, and of course he has on an annoying smirk.

"So... Going anywhere special tomorrow princess?" he asks, twirling a strand of my hair around his fingers.

"I'm going to the beach with my friends. And you're not coming. Got it?"

"But you friends _invited_ me! It would be rude not to go after I said I would go!" He replied innocently. Ugh.

"DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! I'm going to my room!" I yell at him, running upstairs.

Once I am in my room and I set my little pink bag down, I collapse onto my bed.

Why the hell did I yell at Kazuma again?! My anger always gets the best of me. I was trying to be more lady-like and mild-mannered too! Oh well. Kazuma's just too irritating. He knows how to get on my bad side too much!

I look down at the pink bag again, and I suddenly feel nervous. I gulp, and try not to think about tomorrow. I try to divert my attention to other things.

But that plan failed, since my phone suddenly started ringing.

"Hullo?" I say.

"AYAAAAA-CHAN~! Remember, we're going to the beach at 11 tomorrow okay? Let's meet at the entrance!" Yukari's cheery voice chirped.

"Okay, okayyyyy"

"Remember to wear that red bikini we got today! Ohhohohoho I can't wait to see the look on Kazuma's face!"

"Yes ma'am" I reply.

"Len! Stop kissing my neck for a sec! I have to talk to Aya! Anyways Ayano, see you tommowwww~ Mwah!"

I sigh. At times like this, I feel pretty lonely.

I want someone to hold me close, someone to wipe away my tear, and to kiss me when I'm down too...

* * *

Cliffhanger.

The next chapter will be better (more smutty?)...

That is... If I write one!

Advice? Thoughts? Hit that Review button!

_Finished. 3:14AM 3/17/13 (Happy St. Patrick's Day!)_


	2. Bikini Red-y

Hey all!

This week's installment of Seeing Red is back! But next week I will not be uploading a new chapter, since I will be going on vacation in China! :D

But you can look forward to the next installment two weeks from now!

**This story is Disclaimed: I don't own Kaze No Stigma!**

Thank you for your support! As always, you guys motivate me to write, so hit up that review button! ;)

Oh and this is written in Kazuma's Point of Veiw, since I thought it would be more fun that way!

* * *

I looked at Ayano while she was looking away out the window of the train, and tried to imagine her in a bathing suit.

The last time I saw her in a very revealing dress, I wasn't disappointed. But this time, she was 18 instead of 17, so I wondered if I would be seeing something even better.

Then again, I've seen some really good stuff at that nude beach I went to in my teens. Ah the good old days.

Woah. I'm beginning to sound like an old geezer! I'm not in my teens, so I can't blame it on the hormones either. I shouldn't be thinking about Ayano in that way.

I mean, she's my work partner goddammit!

If I were to he honest, I would say that Ayano was growing up to be a gorgeous woman. She really was.

The first time I saw her, she was just a kid of 6 or 7. At that time, I was scared of her, since she already could throw a medium grade fireball, and I had nothing. Somehow, we met again. We weren't supposed to, I was supposed to live my happily ever after with Tsui-Ling, and she was supposed to find some kind of normal boy to be with. But that didn't happen, and...

I would like to think it's fate. That's the only time I believe in that destiny crap.

When I met her a year and a half ago, she came at me, Enraiha first. She was blazing red, and determined to kill me.

Somehow we were both forced to work together to save Ren from the youma.

That's when I discovered that Ayano was really a gem of a girl.

She's not good at cooking, cleaning, back massaging, or making you melt with sweet words like Tsui Ling. But I can tell Ayano is very kind. She's also brave, witty, and sharp-tongued. Arguing with her somehow turned out to be one of my hobbies.

She's very important to me. But not in the romantic way. I'm not sure if I'm ready to be involved in that after how the first one turned out...

But I don't like her in just the friend way either.

I don't call her Kannagi-san or Ayano-chan. She was just Ayano.

And to her, I was just Kazuma.

"What are you staring at?" Ayano says to me, her crimson eyes narrowed.

"Just at how gorgeous you look today." She blushes a bit, and turns to hide it.

Sometimes, she's really cute. Like now.

"Aw shuddup Kazuma. I bet you say that to every girl you're with." She retorts, covering her smooth shoulder with her cardigan.

"Are you jealous?" I ask immediately, seeing a chance to irritate her.

I really like irritating her. It's because she lets her anger out, not like some girls that just sulk. She's just so real.

"No I am not. Why would I be jealous of the girls you try to woo? They're probably all old maids anyways." Ayano turns to look at me, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Ah, silly Ayano. The girls I've been with are much more mature and womanly, but they're not old maids. They're all hot, curvy, long-legged women, got it?" I tell her, trying to push her a bit.

It really wasn't nice of me, since I knew all girls were insecure about some part of their bodies, no matter how perfect others think they are.

"You hentai! I bet all you look for in girls is a hot body to have sex with." Ayano says coldly, turning back to the window. Everyone in the subway car stared, and I was a bit embarrassed.

"Wasn't that a bit loud, Kannagi-san?" I whisper, walking closer to her. I could already feel the body heat she was emitting, and I realized why she could wear dresses in the winter. The girl was an oven!

She ignored me. I guess I will have to wait until our stop comes to bother her again.

"This is Mizushima Beach!" The overly-preppy stop announcer said.

"Ayano, it's our stop!" I tell her.

"Okay." She simply says.

I grab onto her arm to make sure she wasn't lost in the crowd of the people getting out.

Soon, we were standing at the place we were supposed to be meeting the rest of her friends at.

It was getting to be really hot, so I took off my shirt. I glanced at Ayano, and of course, she was looking at the beautiful scenery again. I took the chance to scan her over, and I was surprised that she was still wearing everything she was wearing earlier.

On average, Ayano was always warmer than me, so I wondered how hot she must be feeling now.

"Don't you want to take that off?" I suggested.

She looked at me blankly, and then blushed. "Why? Are you really that much of a hentai?"

I was a bit surprised. I really wasn't thinking about her in that way.

"You're usually really warm, I just thought you would be more comfortable if you took all that off." I replied after a second's pause.

"I don't need you to look after me, Kazuma. I can take care of myself."

On that, I shrugged and glanced in the direction of the water. It was blue, and for some reason I thought that it was beautiful.

While I was looking away from Ayano, I tried not to notice the sensation of someone's gaze on me, floating up and down. I knew it was Ayano, so it made me feel a bit self-conscious.

I knew I wasn't that bad looking. I kept myself in shape, doing cardio and endurance workouts every day. Running and soccer was also hobbies of mine.

But knowing that Ayano was looking at me made me feel uncomfortable.

Luckily, her friends came soon enough, all holding hands with what I assumed were their boyfriends.

"Yayyyy~! I can't believe you actually came!" Yukari exclaimed, her already high-pitched voice raising an octave.

I grinned. "Can't miss a chance to see you again!" I said good-naturedly.

"Hey man, lay off. Can't a guy go anywhere with his girlfriend without having another guy trying to snatch her away?" The blond guy next to her said playfully.

Yukari slapped his arm, and began the introductions.

"This is my boyfriend Kimura Len, and that there is Nanase's boyfriend Watanabe Ryuu. That girl with the black hair is our friend Suzuki Mina. The girl with the pink hair is Yamada Tomoyo, and this chick here," she said, gesturing to an attractive girl with mouse brown hair, "is the one and only, Matsuo Sakura."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Yagami Kazuma."

They all returned my greetings, and I think they were all pretty nice.

I started to talk to Ryuu about a vido game that we both played, and I didn't realize what was happening until I glanced up to check on Ayano.

* * *

That rack.

And that ass.

She's been hiding them all along, but now they were showcased in a vivid cherry red bathing suit.

I couldn't help but to stare, and trace her contours with my eyes.

Her creamy white skin glowed in the sunlight, enhanced by that bathing suit that matched her eyes and her hair so well. She wore a simple ruby ring on one hand, and the key suspended on a silver chain that I had given to her for her birthday was nearly smothered by her boobs.

Damn, I wish I could be that key.

A small giggle distracted me, and I looked in that direction. It was Yukari.

"Like what you see?" Yukari teased me.

Hell yeah I do. But I didn't say anything, I just turned back to look at Ayano. She was blushing a deep red, and it made me think of all the things I could do to her to make that blush stay on her face.

I wasn't going to deny it.

Ayano was hot. And that tightness in my pants proved it.

"Well, we'll leave you two lovebirds alone now~!" Yukari said, leading her boyfriend away from us. I looked around. None of her friends were around anymore.

I walked closer to her.

Ayano averted my eyes, dropping her gaze to the white sand below her sandaled feet.

"You look nice in your bathing suit" I forced myself not to make some dirty reference to her rack, or that ass.

Apparently, other guys thought she looked good too. Suddenly, a there was a wolf-whistle, and I turned to look at who it came from.

It was a group of guys around her age, maybe a bit older. The one leading them had a smirk on, and he looked Ayano up and down, like I had done earlier.

But then he kept looking at her, and I knew what he was thinking when I saw that intense stare. He was undressing _my_ Ayano in his mind.

I couldn't keep my cool.

"Hey man, what are you doing?" I said to him, trying to keep my voice casual. Of course the bastard ignored me.

He took a strand of Ayano's hair and twirled it around his fingers. "Hey there gorgeous. Want to come with me and have some fun?"

Fuck. There was no mistaking what kind of _fun_ he meant.

Ayano was frozen, and just looked at him. He brought his finger down, and stroked the top of Ayano's breast.

That was it.

Crack!

I surveyed the damage that I did to him as he clutched his nose. Judging from the sound, I think I broke his nose.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD. YOU RUINED MY GOOD LOOKS! I'LL HAVE YOU SUED!" He yelled as his posse helped him up.

"Go ahead, but don't let me see you anywhere near her again. Do you understand?" I simply said, giving his the scariest glare I could muster up.

Before I met Ayano, everyone avoided me because of that cold look. Now, I was glad it still had the same effect. His group helped him go away.

Ayano unfroze, and grabbed onto my arm. I met her concerned gaze, and knew she was going to nag me.

* * *

It's a short chapter but the next one is reallllllyyyy long so...

CLIFFHANGER? :D

Hit up that review button!

12:21PM 3/24/13


	3. No Regrets

BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING, I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS SOMETHING.

I've always made it clear that I accept and encourage constructive criticism in my reviews, but please do not harass me or flame me into writing another chapter or updating because that's what makes me **NOT** want to update.

For example: "Would you update like sooner rather that later", or "R u still in ur vacation? Pls come back. I can't wait for d nxt chap. Pls update or I shall call u lazy girl in my other reviews. Got it.c ; kidding."

I literally copied and pasted this from the review page. First of all *cringe* the grammar! :C Second of all, I have an urge to say "NO! I will NOT update!" to that message.

Besides that, thank you for your reviews, favorites, follows, and love!

Keep pointing out my flaws! :3

Now that that's done with...

I know you're all disappointed with my lack of updates, but I hope this long chapter can sort of make up for it.

**WARNING: The party's heating up ;)**

**Oh, and this story is DISCLAIMED: I don't own Kaze no Stigma :3**

* * *

"Kazuma, what was that?" Ayano asked, her voice laced with disapproval.

I looked down at her, marveling over what a pretty picture she made holding onto my arm.

She kept looking at me.

"Wait what?" I blurted out, not really sure of what to say.

Immediately afterwards I cursed at myself. Must I _always_ sound like a dumb kid around her? I prayed for divine intervention.

My luck was good that day, or so it seemed. "Heyyyyyy!" Yukari yelled at Ayano and I as she ran over, her blond hair flying out in waves behind her.

When she finally reached us, she doubled over and rested on her knees, panting.

"Are you okay Yuks?" Ayano asked, her brow furrowing in the cutest way possible. It made me just want to pat her on the head like a cute pup. Argh, damn these pedophile thoughts of mine!

Yukari looked back up at us with bright eyes. "There's a beach volleyball tournament there!"

Ayano's eyes lit up immediately. I swear, Ayano lives off competition, especially winning them.

"What kind of beach volleyball?" Ayano asked.

"Yes! I just knew you'd be interested Aya-chan!" Yukari cheered, beaming at Ayano. "It's 4 on 4 volleyball, but it's a couple event..."

"What does that mean? Couple event...?"

"Well, the girl rides on the guy's shoulders and they're the only ones allowed to touch the ball. The guys are in charge of directions and moving around. Other than that, the rules of the tournament is the same as regular beach volleyball. Each team technically has 8 people, 4 guy-girl pairs."

Ayano reddened nicely. "B-but... I don't have a person to go into the tournament with..."

Yukari's smile faltered. "But Ayaaaaaa! The prize is a trip for the whole team to the beach at Nishibama*! All the expenses are paid for, including airfare, entertainment, and food!"

I could see that Ayano desperately wanted to go to this beach volleyball tournament or whatever. She hadn't been anywhere outside of the prefecture for a long time. To tell the truth, I wanted her to go on a vacation, but I wanted even more to go on a vacation with her. So I stepped in.

"I'll be your partner Ayano." I offered, raising an eyebrow. "But can you play beach volleyball at all?"

Just like I wanted her to, she exploded. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN CAN I PLAY BEACH VOLLEYBALL OR NOT... I'M **GREAT** AT IT! I'll show you!"

Yukari clapped and laughed. "Great!" Let's practice a little with everyone else before we play!"

Ayano narrowed her eyes at me. "Get down!"

I knelt, smirking. Ayano was only ever audacious like that when she was angry, and I liked it a little too much. She climbed onto my shoulder and I when I felt her smooth skin against mine, I immediately regretted the decision I made.

Where she touched me, I practically burned. Where she didn't touch me, I burned for her touch.

She swung her toned, slim legs over my shoulder and into my line of sight, and I couldn't help but notice how much I wanted to stroke them. However, her demanding voice cut off my line of thought.

"Stand up and try to run!" Ayano ordered, placing her arms around my neck for support. I did as she said, and she giggled on top of me as I ran.

It was a nice feeling, to run like that with her holding onto me as if we were young lovers with no age difference or broken hearts. When I stopped near her friends, she waved at them from above.

"Wait... Where's Tomoyo-chan?" Ayano asked.

"Oh, she went home, something came up with Eriol-kun." Sakura answered, smiling on top of a chestnut haired guy I didn't meet before.

"Mhm," Mina agreed, on top of another guy I didn't know.

"Okayyy guys! Let's practice!" Ayano yelled gleefully.

"Okayyy!" They all agreed, and practice started.

As I soon found out, Ayano wasn't fibbing when she said that she was good at beach volleyball. She _was_ good, _extremely_ good in fact.

When the team decided to go for a water break, we all walked to the soda dispensers, still in playing positions since the girls were too tired to get down.

I tried to keep up a conversation with Syaoran, the guy that Sakura got to be her partner, about current news, but Ayano was just so damn distracting. She had decided to prop herself up against my head, pushing her full chest against me- it was incredibly soft and warm. I could hear her pant against my ear as she tried to regain her breath, which didn't help either.

I don't think she fully realized the effect of herself on me, because she was never openly provocative.

"So, how do you think I was?" She said into my ear, or rather, _panted_ into my ear. Her breathy voice was drop-dead sexy, which made had my imagination going wild.

"Uhm, you were pretty good, " I admitted, trying to sound casual.

"Ha!" She replied triumphantly.

"Kazuma, heads up!" Ryuu shouted as he tossed two bottle of ice cold water, straight out of the soda dispensers. I caught them easily, and handed one to Ayano. "Thanks." She said as she took it into her hand.

We then all walked back toward the beach volleyball competition.

* * *

"1, 2, 3, VICTORY!" The girls chanted, as us guys just exchanged good-natured grins. Apparently the tournament was sponsored by some famous magazine for their summer romance spread, so there were photographers all around, snapping pictures of the participants.

A cute girl in a bikini that barely covered anything handed us our number sticker, and she insisted on sticking it onto my chest herself. For some reason, Ayano was annoyed.

"Look Ayano, she gave us the first number! We're team 01!"

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled before shouting, "WE HAVE TO WIN!"

"Yes ma'am!" everyone else replied in unison. I just smirked.

Soon enough we beat every other team and it was the final round.

Our breaths were all labored, and we were all sweaty. Ayano was panting in my eat again, distracting me once more.

"Okay guys, Let's go for the gold. We're going to win this!" Mina yelled, fist pumping the air. We all just yelled, whooped, and clapped back.

Finally, the final round started. From the first 5 minutes alone, I knew the other team was just as good as, if not better than, our team. When we got to the halftime, it was a tied game.

We all gulped down the cold, refreshing water given to us by volunteers and then looked at each other.

Ayano was the first one to start talking. "We need a plan."

"I agree, we're not going to be able to win this one without a really good one." Ryuu agreed, looking at the rest of us.

"Well what's the plan going to be then?" Sakura asked.

"Well I've noticed that the star player on their team is mainly that couple over there who loves to spike the ball into places you just walked away from." Ayano started.

I nodded and added on, "I see where you're going with this. So you're saying we should use false turns?"

"Exactly."

I looked at her, she looked at me, and we smiled.

"Game's on!"

For the second half of the team, our team was damn good, if I do say so myself. The false start in different directions had the other team spiking and serving the ball straight into our hands.

Finally, the referee blew the whistle to signify the end of the game, and all of us looked up at the scoreboard in spite of how tired we all were.

The score was 34-27, with our team ahead. That vacation was ours.

The next moment was a flurry of cheers, group hugs, laughter, and high fives.

Actually, I wouldn't have minded if our team lost. That beach volleyball tournament was the first time I had felt so included for a long time. It felt good to work as a team for a common goal. It felt god to trust other people and not to do everything yourself.

I couldn't deny that what happened next was even better

Ayano turned to me. She looked at my with shiny, dreamy eyes, as if she was straight out of an anime or something. Normally that thought would make me want to lurch, but in that moment, I was getting a bit teary eyed myself.

"Thank you for not being a jerk Kazuma." Maybe it was just me, but I swear her voice took on a certain kind of tenderness. Argh, I just don't know how to explain it properly, but I saw a softer side of her then.

It was so unlike her.

What came next was even more unlike her.

She pressed a chaste kiss to my cheek and I could fee how soft her lips were.

For some reason that got my heart racing like a little boy confronted with his first crush. It was strange. It wasn't like I hadn't had contact with females before. Heck, me and Tsui-Ling had done basically everything a couple could do in terms of physical intimacy. So it wasn't like I was new to cheek-kisses.

Heck, cheek-kisses were at the bottom of the list for what I considered to be important touches!

But with Ayano, it was a whole different animal altogether. It really was strange. I felt like I could live off that little peck (which wasn't even on the lips for godssake!) for months.

She pulled back and gave me a sneaky smile, the tops of her cheeks flushed a rosy pink. She then walked off toward the rest of the team who were going to celebrate by going to someplace to eat. I would have caught the name of the place if she wasn't so goddamn _distracting_ all of a sudden.

_That minx_, I growled to myself as I ran to catch up to her.

Soon enough I caught up to her, and we walked side by side. I wanted to ask her why she had kissed me, but then it occurred to me how stupid it would sound. Internally, I was already mocking myself.

What was I thinking?! What could she even answer that question with anyways? _"Oh, I kissed you on the cheek because I wanted to?"_ Fat chance of that happening.

Also, WHY WAS I OBSESSING OVER IT SO MUCH?! It just baffles me.

So I just kept my mouth shut, lest I say some random thing and fuck the whole thing up. By thing I mean our sorta-friends, sorta-more relationship.

That was another frustrating issue as well.

What was Ayano to me anyways?

I never had any trouble deciding someone's relationship before. It was a strange thing for me to think about. It was kind of mind-boggling actually.

I feel like I'm her older brother sometimes. I worry about her; what she's doing, how she's feeling, etc. But then there are those other parts of me that thinks about her far from the older brother way.

Like the part of me that can't keep itself soft.

Or the part of me that makes me keep gazing at her smooth skin.

Or the part of me that wants to stroke her.

And when I think of her calling me "Oni-chan~!" it's usually in my dreams with her half naked and in a maid outfit or something like that. True story bro.

"Hey, you're looking at me like that again," Ayano said, her voice strangely timid.

SHIT! She found out that I was staring at her! _No shit Sherlock_, I thought to myself ruefully, _you were basically eye-raping her..._

I had to play it cool. "Staring at you like what?"

Yeah okay... I sounded like a creepy stalker who was trying to pick her up/seduce her...

"Like this," She replied, giving me a heated gaze, "Like you want something from me or somethi..." Her voice trailed off slowly.

I guess my gaze was scary or something because she then turned away from me, saying "never mind."

To keep my mind off of the whole murky situation I had going on with Ayano, I decided to look up ahead and see what the other people were up to. Sakura and Syaoran were already holding hands and talking amiably. _Good for her_, I thought.

The other couples were also holding hands and having conversations.

The sensation of love in the air was unbearable strong for a moment there. Then Ayano walked up next to me, and I glanced down automatically.

"Uhm, do you know where we're going?" I could see that she felt a bit lonely, with all of her friends coupled off, leaving her with me. She was trying her best to make smalltalk I guess.

"I actually have no clue." I smiled then, it just sort of came out unexpectedly through my emotion filter which was usually on. I looked back down at her, and she smiled back at me.

"You have a beautiful smile."

I could see that what she said surprised her too. She blushed immediately, hiding behind her hair and turning her face away from me.

Sometimes Ayano was painfully shy.

All of a sudden, I heard Nanase call out, "Look! There it is~! The seaside diner!"

I looked ahead to where she was pointing and I saw a thriving diner by the sea. It looked like an invited place to eat at, so I decided to stay for dinner with the group.

As we approached the diner, a fetching woman with red hair approached me.

"How many?" She asked me, giving me a wink.

I did a quick head count. "Six."

"Come right along this way hottie!" She said with a giggle, leading us to a table.

When all of us were seated, she lingered by our table, asking me all sorts of questions as she forced her "recommendations" onto me. However, it was as plain as day to everyone there that she was trying to flirt with me.

Finally, Ayano spoke up in an annoyed voice, "Could you please leave us alone for a bit? We really would prefer looking at the menu ourselves."

The waitresses turned to look at her.

"Ohmigosh! Your hair-color looks terrific! Would you mind telling me which dye you used?"

Ayano got even more irked. "It's natural." She bit out, glaring at the waitress.

"Okay dear... I'll be back later to take your order~!" The waitress finally left.

Ayano was still bristling. I placed a hand around her onto her shoulder and said, "Calm down Ayano." It seemed to have the opposite effect though. She jumped slightly, as if I had startled her.

I thought that she was going to shake my hand off then and there, but she let me rest my hand on her shoulder while she turned back to her menu.

_It's just one surprise after another today_, I thought to myself, chuckling.

"Hey! Stop laughing at me!" Ayano complained soon after that, pouting. That just made me laugh even more.

* * *

Ayano hugged her friends goodbye at the train station as we started to part ways after dinner.

"See you Yuks!" She said, waving to her friend one last time as her friend waved back.

"C'mon Ayano, we should go home now." I called out to her as I began to walk downstairs to the train.

"We... Should go home?" she asked redundantly. "When did we ever live together?"

"I'll send you home. It's dark out." I replied. "What kind of a man would I be if I let a young maiden walk home in the dark all by herself?"

She stuck her tongue our playfully, retorting, "That makes me sound like some damsel in distress. Sorry that you have to hear this from me Kazuma, but I am definitely not a damsel in distress. I'm a damsel that can make others go into distress."

I laughed. "Clever."

"You betcha!"

All the while we had our conversation, we made it onto a train that would take us home. Unfortunately, it would take 17 stops to take us to the station nearest to her house.

Even more unfortunately, it was** rush hour**.

At the beginning of our ride, we managed to have a cheerful conversation.

However, as time went on we were squeezed against each other so much that it was enough work to make sure she wasn't touching me anywhere inappropriate and I wasn't touching her anywhere inappropriate. I could hardly breathe.

Good thing she was now donning a shirt, and not just that red bikini. That made the situation a tad bit more bearable.

"Hey," I whispered her way, "are you alright?"

"Alright?!" She whispered back. "I'm far from alright! What are these people thinking GEE, I CAN FIT MY FOOT ONTO THE TRAIN, SO I BELONG ON THE TRAIN?!"

"Ayano... Don't look now but our stop is next." I warned her. We were on the side opposite the doors that would let us out of the train,so we had to somehow squeeze out way out when the time came.

"Shit." She cursed as the announcer announced that it was stopping at our stop.

"Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, oops, sorry there ma'am, excuse me, thank you sir." I said as I lead the way out of the train.

Once we were on the platform, we waited until everyone else left before we made our way up the stairs.

"Wow was that train crowded!" I exclaimed, stretching my arms out.

"You can say that again," Ayano agreed, stretching down to touch her fingers to her feet.

It was starting to get dark out, and the electric streetlights lit up as we walked down the familiar road to the Kannagi Mansion. A sweet summer wind swept through her hair, and the yellow light of the streetlights made it seem like it was on fire.

Suddenly she turned to me. "Hey Kazuma..." she started.

"Yeah?" I answered absentmindedly, enjoying the moment. We were very close to the Mansion now.

"Was there ever anything you regretted not doing?" She asked wistfully, playing with the hem of her shorts.

"Of course. There are lots of things I regret."

"Like?" She quipped.

"Like not spending enough time with my mother, not taking a good job offer I had, not giving Tsui-Ling a more extravagant living."

I suddenly wondered why she was asking me the question to begin with, so I gave her a curious look.

As if she had read my mind, she went on, "I've been thinking. There's something I want to do."

"Stop thinking princess," I advised, "Just do it. Or else you'll end up like me. An old geezer who wanted many things but never attained them."

We were on the trail to the Mansion now. I closed the gate behind her.

"Well... If you say so Kazuma." She said, still walking. She soon stopped about 10 feet away from the entrance of the Mansion.

She turned to me and looked into my eyes, searching for something. I looked down at her, realizing how close she was all of a sudden. She reached even closer to me, closing the gap between us, and then there was nothing but the warmth of her lips on mine.

I was drowning in her fire.

The next few seconds passed in a flurry- she may have frenched me, or maybe she didn't. But I was only sure about one thing; I had buried my fingers into her silky hair and pulled her even closer to me. Her body lined up against mine perfectly, making me lose control of my thoughts like never before.

There was no inhibition, no fear, no hesitation. I guess I had wanted that to happen for a long time; I had been waiting for it, longing for it.

When she finally stepped away from me, her lips swollen and her cheeks red again, she held my gaze.

"Even if I regret this because you'll hate me afterwards, at least I won't regret not doing it."

And with that, she strung my heart on a line and left it hanging on her last word.

For the next few minutes, I stood there, trying to get a grip on my emotions. That was just... _wow_.

* * *

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_Finished 7/1/13 11:33PM._


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